After a notable debut with British group Yes, keyboardist Rick Wakeman released a first solo album of original material inspired by the wives of King Henry VIII of England. this opus The six wives of Henry VIII, celebrates its 50th anniversary on Monday.
This album, released on January 23, 1973, marked the beginning of a successful solo career for the English musician, with multiple works and sales of over 50 million albums.
In 1971 Wakeman had released Piano Improvisations, an album of covers of tracks by Elton John, James Taylor and Leon Russell that went unnoticed. The musician was part of the band The Strawbs at the time. His name isn’t even on the cover.
read plane
The idea for Henry VIII’s Six Wives came after buying a book at the airport in Richmond, Virginia. Rick Wakeman was in this city on September 27, 1972 for Yes’s Close to the Edge tour.
“There were no iPods, CDs or portable cassette players to keep you busy. When you arrived at an airport, you bought a book,” he said in an interview published in the Lockport Union-Sun & Journal of New York in October 2021.
During the Close to the Edge tour with Yes, the A&M label offered Rick Wakeman a five-album deal. However, the musician had no idea what to put on this first album with A&M.
The 23-year-old keyboardist found himself in a small shop with few books. Wakeman, who is interested in history, acquired The Private Life of Henry VIII from Nancy Brysson Morrison.
“I started reading it on the plane and a tune came to mind while reading about Anne Boleyn. I wrote the song in a small screenplay, read on and another idea came to me. I have found these brides to be very musical and inspirational. Everything fell into place quickly,” added the keyboardist.
The coins refer to the six wives of the King of England and Ireland from 1509 until his death in 1547, also known as Bluebeard.
Recording was attended by Yes’s Bill Bruford, Steve Howe, Chris Squire and Alan White, and the Strawbs’ Chas Cronk, Dave Cousins and Dave Lambert.
On TV
The work peaked at number 7 on the UK Singles Chart and number 30 on the US Billboard 200.
The musician believes he used a change in television programming in England to achieve this success.
Andy Warhol’s controversial film Blue Movie was scheduled to air on UK broadcaster ITV but was canceled at the last minute. At the same time, Rick Wakeman presented excerpts from his album The Old Gray Whistle Test on BBC 2 TV.
“It seems most people don’t want to see a cover […] and they switched stations. I couldn’t ask for anything better,” he said in the 1979 book Rick Wakeman: The Caped Crusader.
Total sales of The Six Wives of Henry VIII have reached 15 million copies.